Sophomores and the Power of Pink

The Power of Pink!

Three things that make me happy during school spirit week:

1.  Daffy outfits
2.  Davenport races, and
3.  Decorative hallways

  All the excitement of streamers, balloons, and team- building games for LCCS' Spirit Week concluded last week.  Remaining in my mind's eye, however, is the penetrating pink glow created by some of my students in the sophomore hallway. They completely transformed their space using simple materials.  Featuring a balloon chandelier and tented lights, their design catapulted them into first place for class color day.  If any class could thoroughly explore the pinkness of pink, sophomores rocked it.

Hellos and Goodbyes

To: Mrs. Jensen   From:  Mrs. Brott

At two o’clock tomorrow, the last locker will slam, and goodbyes will echo down the hallway.  I paint a picture in my head of summer pressing it’s face against my window screen, and can almost catch the smell of fresh cut grass.  The breeze whispers hello warm weather, unstructured days, Colorado vacations, and painting.  It breathes goodbye to grading projects, writing lesson plans and to-do lists that never end.   Yet,  between all the hellos and goodbyes, I’ll still be grateful for the nine months of students, colleagues and classes that enrich my life in so many ways.  So while hellos are the easiest to do, goodbyes rustle in a sense of closure and change that challenges.  

This week I said goodbye to my friend and colleague, Jacquie Jensen, who leaves for the mission field of Africa in the fall. Mrs. Jensen superbly handled 1st through 5th grade art for eleven years at Lake Center Christian School. Sharing an art room with three different art teachers is a dance for space, and Mrs. Jensen is one of the most organized and gracious people I know.  Since our class times would abut each other’s, I was often setting up for class while she was finishing hers. I couldn’t help but observe the respect and love her students showed her, as well as the pride they had in the quality of work they made.   Her bulletin board by the desk often sported scribbled notes and pictures in crayon from students expressing their appreciation for art as well as herself.  If I could add this note to the stacks of theirs, it would say: 

Dear Jacquie,  I couldn’t have asked for a more thoughtful and kind colleague. You have a way of looking at the right side of things and for the best in people that inspires me.  Godspeed on your journey to Africa, my friend.  While I’ll miss you, I know He has great things in store for you as you walk by faith! 

Now there will be two art teachers holding down the fort at LCCS.  Miss Reichenberger, currently our 6 - 8th grade art teacher, will take over Mrs. Jensen’s responsibilities.  I look forward to the promise of another year and a new dance.  

Words cannot express

Impromtu memorial for Captain Stiles

Last Tuesday at the intersection of State Route 619 and Kaufman Avenue near the school, a traffic cop died in the line of duty.  He wasn’t just any traffic cop; he was our traffic cop, Captain Dan Stiles.  A woman driving east into the rising sun accidentally hit him, temporarily blinded by glare.  The shattering of lives happened in an instant and the community reeled in shock. Three fatherless girls as well as a widow now grieve the loss of a dad and husband; and a driver and her family now have to come to terms with what happened that day - a tragic situation from any angle.

Our school family opened the campus to host calling hours and the funeral service for a devastated family and a mourning community.  School staff worked tirelessly to make the campus spotless, setting up a sea of chairs in the gym, and organizing food and servers for a funeral dinner.  Even the main hallways were stripped of recently hung children’s art, too festive for such a somber and sad day.  A black curtain shielded the mourners from our rather strident orange mural cover.  It reminded me of some lines from Auden’s poem, Stop all the clocks:

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one;

                                                Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;

                               

As I walked down the hallway, it seemed like we took down joy and then tucked it quietly back into the art room.   We need to re-hang it at the earliest moment; the bare walls resonate a whispered lament.   

 I am bookmarking my heart to never forget Captain Stiles and what it cost him to wave me safely through to school and home again.